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As Russia advances, Ukrainians flee once-sleepy mining town
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on July 31, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on July 31, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
As Russia advances, Dobropillia faces evacuations. The frontline is now 15 km away, with threats from drones and bombs. Local aid groups help residents flee.
DOBROPILLIA (Reuters) -A forlorn group of evacuees filed into a bus, bags bulging with whatever remnants of their lives they could take with them as they left Dobropillia, a Ukrainian town which has seen the frontline of Russia's invasion creep ever closer.
"It's hard, to live in one place and then to tear yourself away. But what can I do? Nothing," said Liubov, who declined to give her surname, as she sat on the bus which would take her away from her hometown.
The frontline has been moving towards Dobropillia - once a sleepy Soviet coal mining town of 30,000 people - for 18 months.
Russian soldiers, who were more than 50 km (30 miles) away at the beginning of last year, are now about 15 km from the edge of the town - close enough for it to come under fire from kamikaze drones carrying explosives.
A half-tonne Russian glide bomb hit the main shopping centre on July 16, killing two people and wounding more than 20.
Denys Naumov, a volunteer aid worker from local aid group Proliska which is helping manage the evacuation, said the situation there had deteriorated over the past two weeks. Around 1,250 people had been evacuated over that time.
"Just now, when we conducted an evacuation, we heard explosions," Naumov told Reuters.
Liubov said she did not see any prospect of a ceasefire, even after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Moscow with tariffs and other measures if it did not make progress on ending the war by end of next week.
"I don't believe it, I don't listen to anyone," she said, shaking her head sadly.
(Reporting by Inna Varenytsia; Writing by Max Hunder; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Dobropillia, a Ukrainian town, is facing an evacuation as Russian forces advance closer, with the frontline now only about 15 km away.
Around 1,250 people have been evacuated from Dobropillia in recent weeks due to the deteriorating situation.
A half-tonne Russian glide bomb hit the main shopping center in Dobropillia on July 16, resulting in two deaths and over 20 injuries.
Evacuees like Liubov express despair and disbelief about the prospects of a ceasefire, feeling hopeless about the ongoing conflict.
Local aid groups, such as Proliska, are managing the evacuation efforts and providing support to those fleeing the conflict.
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